One time, many moons ago, I was a peer leader in high school.  Peer leaders were the people who helped little kids find their lockers when they first got to high school.  It was my way of giving back to the community.  Actually, like most people who did it, I was told it would look good on my college transcripts.  That was the reason I did a lot of things in high school. 

One fateful Friday night, the "leadership" (faculty advisers) of peer leadership decided to have a lock-in at the high school as a way to form a more "together" group of people.  I think I remember being forced to do some stupid things like lip syncing and playing games.  There were some sports in the gym (I think) and some music in the auditorium (I think).  I could be combining several different memories here, but that's not important.  What was important was the fact that the faculty advisers gave the peer leaders free reign of the entire high school.  I guess their rationale was that we were the cream of the crop students.  We were the good kids.  We wouldn't get into any trouble.  The events that followed would later come to be known as the Great Kittatinny Peer Leadership Fiasco. 

Giving teenagers freedom is the worst thing anyone can possibly do.  With freedom comes drug use and teen pregnancy.  Or in this case, the theft of ice cream.  A few select students found a big freezer that was chained shut.  Like ravenous sharks following the scent of blood, these students discovered that this locked freezer contained ice cream.  Like a lot of ice cream.  They also discovered that the lock wasn't all that impenetrable.  By forcefully opening one edge of the door of the freezer, they were able to squeeze their grubby little paws in and snag some beautifully tasty ice cream.  And not just ice cream in pints.  I'm talking about the good stuff here:  ice cream sandwiches, chipwiches, those cones with black cookie bits.  All the stuff you see in the food store and think about buying but then decide against it when you see how expensive it is.  These sneaky students took out a few things for themselves, and were even kind enough to ask a few other people if they wanted any. 

Later on in the night, people broke into the main office and commandeered the intercom system, which they hastily used to spread messages of propaganda to anyone with ears.  Some couples were found off by themselves doing things that only mommies and daddies should be doing. 

When we got back to school on Monday morning, we came to learn that the faculty advisers found out about some of the bad things and weren't exactly happy about it.  Concerning the ice cream heist, they questioned several people and dished out several in-school suspensions.  I was one of the people brought in for questioning.  I may or may not have lied directly to the vice principal when he asked me if I stole ice cream.  I may have said that I ate some ice cream sandwiches that were sitting on a table.  The truth may have been that I was the kid who said, "Hey Ian, can you get me one?"  This is all speculation and the truth will never be fully known. 

The reason I called this post "Lord of the Flies" is because I think these events are sort of like that book.  I was never very good at reading comprehension, but I think part of the book had something to do with the inherent evil in mankind and the almost instinctual regression of behavior to the primitive.  Leave a bunch of kids stranded on an island and somebody will wind up dead.  Leave a bunch of high school "leaders" in a rule-free high school and wind up getting ice cream stolen. #sociology